On New Year’s morning, 14 Chicago-area peacemakers returned “tainted gifts” to a downtown Body Shop retail outlet.
The Body Shop proudly proclaims company values of “Community Trade, Human Rights, and Protection of the Planet,” yet its products contain palm oil supplied by Daabon Organics which forcibly displaced 123 families from their farmlands in Las Pavas, Colombia, one area where CPT works.
Gift boxes labeled “Product Tainted – Threats,” “…Corruption,” “…Eviction,” “…Environmental Damage,” etc., lined the sidewalk outside the store.
The group sang adapted Christmas carols and a rewrite of “Pop goes the weasel” that summarized the situation and their call:
From farmland in Colombia,
the guns chased off the people
Daabon got title to the land –
“Stop!” say the people.
A penny for the drug dealer’s clan,
a penny for the gov’nor,
Palm oil for the Body Shop –
“Stop!” say the people.
CPT Reservist Duane Ediger and delegate Bob Palmer had visited the displaced farmers during a CPT delegation in October. Police turned the two away when they attempted to return the tainted gifts and open a conversation with shop workers.
CHICAGO:
TAINTED GIFTS
On New Year’s morning, 14 Chicago-area peacemakers returned “tainted gifts” to a downtown Body Shop retail outlet.
The Body Shop proudly proclaims company values of “Community Trade, Human Rights, and Protection of the Planet,” yet its products contain palm oil supplied by Daabon Organics which forcibly displaced 123 families from their farmlands in Las Pavas, Colombia, one area where CPT works.
Gift boxes labeled “Product Tainted – Threats,” “…Corruption,” “…Eviction,” “…Environmental Damage,” etc., lined the sidewalk outside the store.
The group sang adapted Christmas carols and a rewrite of “Pop goes the weasel” that summarized the situation and their call:
From farmland in Colombia,
the guns chased off the people
Daabon got title to the land –
“Stop!” say the people.
A penny for the drug dealer’s clan,
a penny for the gov’nor,
Palm oil for the Body Shop –
“Stop!” say the people.
CPT Reservist Duane Ediger and delegate Bob Palmer had visited the displaced farmers during a CPT delegation in October. Police turned the two away when they attempted to return the tainted gifts and open a conversation with shop workers.
